Aromatase Inhibitors: Uses, Dosage, Side Effects, Interactions
Armidex, Aromasin, and Femara can cause fetal harm and should not be used if there is any chance of pregnancy. As a safeguard, pregnancy testing is recommended seven days prior to the start of treatment if a woman’s menopausal status is unknown. Advise your oncologist about any medications you are taking, whether they are pharmaceutical, over-the-counter, recreational, or traditional to avoid drug interactions. In addition to pharmaceutical AIs, some natural elements have aromatase inhibiting effects, such as damiana leaves.
- Vaginal dryness is another problem that’s common in menopause – and as a side effect of both tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.
- Your doctor checks your cancer cells for these receptors when you are diagnosed.
- These guidelines are based on the latest research and agreement among experts.
- Clinical trials have shown that aromatase inhibitors are about 30% more effective in preventing breast cancer recurrence than tamoxifen or raloxifene.
- Current research suggests at least five years of hormone therapy.
Tumor cell proliferation
When used to lower breast cancer risk, these drugs are typically taken for 5 years. They only lower estrogen levels in women whose ovaries aren’t making estrogen (such as women who have already gone through menopause). Because of this, they are used mainly in women who have gone through menopause already. All the treatments that stop your ovaries working give you an early menopause, but this might be temporary with goserelin.
Related treatment guides
The aim of treatment for secondarybreast cancer is to control the cancer and give you a good quality of life . Breast cancer can spread from where it started to other parts of the body. It is also a possible treatment for breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Hormone therapy can lower the levels of oestrogen or progesterone https://zaag.mn/archives/75768 in the body, or block their effects. A drug that stops the production or blocks the actions of the enzyme aromatase, which in turn lowers the level of estradiol (a female hormone) in the body. If the side effects you’re noticing with one hormone therapy are very severe, talk to your doctor about what you’re going through.
Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer
This side effect can be serious enough to cause some women to stop taking the drugs. LHRH drugs work by blocking a hormone made in the pituitary gland that stimulates your ovaries to make and release oestrogen. So you won’t have periods or release eggs while you are having the injections. You are most likely to have anastrozole or letrozole for 5 years. Or you might have one of these drugs for 2 years followed by tamoxifen for 3 years.
LAS either alone or combined with a CDK4/6i was shown to inhibit the growth of ER+/HER2- tumors with mutant ERs in preclinical and clinical studies [26,27,28], but its activity has not been tested in HER2 + breast cancers. Results from the current study suggest the potential of LAS and LAS/PAL for inhibiting HER2-overexpressing breast tumors. However, additional studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of LAS on HER2 + tumors. Whether LAS has any effects on blocking growth factor signaling pathways also warrants further investigation. A 2015 study found that combining aromatase inhibitors with ovarian suppression medications was effective in reducing the risk of cancer recurrence in premenopausal women with breast cancer. Hormone therapy following surgery, radiation or chemotherapy has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence in people with early-stage hormone-sensitive breast cancers.
For some people with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer (one of the most common types), aromatase inhibitors are a safe, effective treatment. However, they’re not for everyone with ER-positive breast cancer. Some people may find it difficult to tolerate the possible side effects.